05 March 2012

Saundra Mitchell.

It's the kind of book that feels like summer, all slow in that don't-move-too-fast-or-you'll-sweat-all-over-yourself way, and while, thinking back, I realize that there really was quite a bit of action, what with the haunting and the seance and the investigation into the past and the sneaking out of the house and all, it didn't feel like there was a lot of action while I was reading. Despite that hot and sometimes drowsy feel, there was never a moment where I lost interest. If anything, my interest—and my tension—grew and grew as I read.

I love how you just drop me into the story and let me figure out what's going on. I love how your prose in The Vespertine is both tight -- nothing overblown, overdone or unnecessary -- but still reminiscent of an old-school Gothic novel. That every time Amelia's voice got flowery, it felt right and true and real. I loved that I believed the dialogue, that I believed in the friendships, that I believed in the characters

It was refreshing to read a romance in which there were multiple parties involved, but that wasn’t a love triangle. Big points to Mitchell for creating a connection so strong that the reader can feel it even when Zora and Emerson are at opposite ends of a crowded room. Yowza.